(NOAH) EVENT RECAP: N-1 VICTORY 2021 ~ NOAH NUMBER ONE PRO-WRESTLING LEAGUE (Sunday September 12th, Korakuen Hall)
Noah's most grand event of the year opened today to a sell out house of 701 people. This is the first time in a long time that Noah have announced an attendance. There was an atmosphere of excitement as expectation, which was heightened by the video package that Noah played to hype the event.
The event was shown live on ABEMA, with the replay being eventually put up on WrestleUniverse. Kaito Kiyomiya said he wouldn't be at the venue today, but he would be watching and absorbing everything.
MATCH ONE
Kongoh Juniors (Tadasuke, Haoh & Aleja) vs Junta Miyawaki, Kai Fujimura & Yasutaka Yano
The young boys (as ever) blazed their way to the ring, with Junta Miyawaki returning a hero from reaching the semi finals in the ZERO-1's Tenkaichi Jnr, even if he is not progressing any further than that. It has to be said that he was dominant today, and is ready to move up the card.
Tadasuke entered as if he was walking out on to stage, he did the usual camera spot but it much shorter, which I think is probably due to time constraints both because it's an afternoon show and also because of the time the main event ran.
The match got going quickly. You could tell the juniors (no matter their eternal feuding with each other), were united in the feeling that they didn't want to be outdone by the heavyweights, and so during this the usual chaos broke out with poor young Kai Fujimura getting the elbows and stamps from Kongoh, and Yasutaka Yano experiencing a junior brawl. Naturally, no one took any notice of the ref.
Yasutaka Yano continues to rise upwards with every match. A highly promising prospect for the future, if you gave him a belt at this stage of his career he would probably run with it. He came extremely close to pinning Tadasuke, but as a lot of other juniors would probably agree (except probably Daisuke Harada), there is often no coming back from a Tadasuke lariat
WINNER: Tadasuke with the Jidanda Lariat on Yasutaka Yano (9 minutes, 19 seconds)
MATCH TWO
N-1 VICTORY D BLOCK
Masa Kitamiya vs Kazuyuki Fujita
If the Juniors had opened the show and sent a signal to the heavyweights that they were not going to be outdone by them, the N-1 opened as it meant to go on (in some instances, not all as we shall see), by a brutal fight. In this case a brutal Hoss fight. A test of strength, a butting of heads and then shoulder tackles. Masa Kitamiya looked as if he had repeatedly run into a wall more than Kazuyuki Fujita, but he refused to back down even though Fujita was wearing him down. Kitamiya won the shoulder tackles.
Probably the most technical thing in this match was the Prison Lock, which Fujita attempted to get out of it with slaps, but each time he did, Kitamiya just dug it in further. The next time he went for slaps, Kitamiya wore him down with elbows and punches, so it turned into a war in this way to keep each other down. Kitamiya then turned it into a choke, and fading Fujita had to drag himself to the ropes to escape. Kitamiya reluctantly let go, drawing his hand across his throat. By this time Fujita who could barely stand, was dragged to the middle of the ring where Kitamiya went for the Saito Slam. Fujita countered and turned the tide of the match, the Soccer Ball kicks making Kitamiya physically bounce.
WINNER: Kazuyuki Fujita with a kick to the face (9 minutes, 29 seconds)
(Kazuyuki Fujita 2 points, Masa Kitamiya 0)
MATCH THREE
N-1 VICTORY B BLOCK
Kenoh vs Kendo Kashin
Kendo Kashin came out first, which meant that Kenoh (whose nerves have been permanently ruined by him), didn't need to worry about being jumped. Kashin's reign of terror began when he got into a tug of war with the referee outside the ring, as he refused to hand over his mace. Evidently it takes two refs to control Kashin, as during Kenoh's entry he looked as if he wanted to either jump him or join in when Kenoh was doing his fist pose. Afterwards, Kenoh was furious and yelling, even before he had taken his robe off, and the Referee had to hold him back.
The bell rang, and Kashin offered his good friend Daisuke a handshake, Kenoh looked as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Things were to get much worse for Kashin's friend Daisuke, as up to his usual tricks, Kashin felt he had to go outside the ring soon after to readjust his mask. Remember that point, it will be important later. So Kenoh got outside the ring to kick him, and Kashin took him on march around the ring and choked him with some kind of square frame. Well, two can play at that game, and Kenoh did it back to him. Because of this, they both almost got counted out, and when they got back in the ring Kashin got right back out again. The Referee told him to get in the ring, Kashin was not interested in fighting Kenoh in it, and so Kenoh came down to Kashin's level. Unfortunately for Kashin, you can also find being kicked around by Kenoh at that level.
Kashin then decided to take the fight backstage and behind the curtain, it was a race back into the ring them both appearing from different places, Kashin tramping his way through the crowd. A video later showed them rushing off backstage aware that the count was nearing the end. Kenoh was furious that Kashin was not counted out. He was about to get even angrier as Kashin got back into the lions den, and then out of it again. Kenoh chasing him around the ring to stop him from leaving. Even the ref got dragged into Kashin's mad world. No one was (or is) immune. He even attempted the PFS on Kenoh.
There was method in his madness though, Kashin had earlier undid one of his boots so he could escape from Kenoh's ankle lock if needs be. However, Kenoh got wise to this and threw it at him. This was when the mask came into play as after almost stealing the win (Kenoh by this time had permanent fury and disbelief etched into his face), Kashin slipped out of his mask when Kenoh went for the chokehold and got the sneak win.
WINNER: Kendo Kashin via sneak pin (12 minutes, 46 seconds)
(Kendo Kashin 2, Kenoh 0)
Kenoh could not believe it and after complaining to the ref, held up the mask in disbelief before stalking to the back where he and Kashin got into a fight in the interview booth. Kenoh screaming "Are you fucking kidding me! I didn't lose!"
MATCH FOUR
GHC JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TAG CHAMPIONSHIP
STINGER (Seiki Yoshioka & Susumu) vs Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara
Hajime Ohara and Atsushi Kotoge came out somewhat manically, with Daisuke Harada and Junta Miyawaki at ringside to give support. So hyper where they that at one point it looked like Ohara fell over Kotoge. There was no such joy from STINGER, who in contrast to the blue skies, joy and rainbows that their opponents radiated, looked as if they had emerged from a cave in the underworld to look wearily at them. Seiki Yoshioka in particular was not amused by Ohara's wiggling...
Very fast paced match with Hajime Ohara bringing out new submissions, and Yuya Susumu applying everything he could to Ohara to wear him down. Ohara doesn't have the sadistic or malicious edge that Susumu does, although he matches him as a technician. STINGER were determined to end the match quickly, but it was a match full of near falls and pin breaks, swinging between both STINGER and their opponents quickly. Each time it looked like it was over, it started up again with Kotoge wrestling on pure momentum until he decided to pull out the finisher as his last resort.
WINNER: Atsushi Kotoge with the Killswitch on Seiki Yoshioka (15 minutes, 10 seconds)
They didn't have time to celebrate for long as NOSAWA Rongai appeared from nowhere, to challenge for the titles on behalf of himself and Eita;
NOSAWA: I hate your wrestling. Next is myself and Eita.
KOTOGE: Everyone and you hate it. I will continue to burn my body to make the Noah Juniors hotter!
Then NOSAWA walked off, leaving The Noah Junior regulars to celebrate in the ring. NOSAWA said later he thought he had done a very boring thing by challenging the boring champions with their boring wrestling with their boring microphone work. Yuya Susumu said that this was not the end. He posted a picture of himself butting heads with Kotoge indicating that that his target would not necessarily be the titles, but someone who was once an old friend.
The GHC Junior Heavyweight title match has been set for the 10th October at the Osaka Edion Arena 1st stadium. It will be the night when the winner of the N-1 VICTORY faces Naomichi Marufuji for the championship, and HAYATA defends the GHC Junior against Daisuke Harada. With this addition to the card, the juniors are refusing to be outdone, plus Atsushi Kotoge is an Osaka native which means he also joins Harada (another Osaka native) and HAYATA (who has roots in Osaka, despite not being from the city) in attractive title matches on a big night.
MATCH FIVE
N-1 VICTORY C BLOCK
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Masato Tanaka
Hubris
noun
Excessive pride or self-confidence. See also "Katsuhiko Nakajima"
This was expected to be one of the most brutal matches on tonight's card, and it did not disappoint. Kicks from Katsuhiko Nakajima and elbows from Masato Tanaka which sent Nakajima outside the ring to recover. Nakajima as ever was trying to wind his opponent up because he thinks its funny, and he did have his sarcastic look on his face when messing around outside the ring, and even counted along with the ref during the Shutter Chance.
Tanaka unfortunately initially allowed himself to be wound up by Nakajima, which played into Nakajima's hands, especially when he tried to look for weapons under the ring apron. However, Nakajima's hubris always comes with a price, and today while daring Tanaka to hit him, meant that he lost the advantage. After this, and several near falls, he knew he had to keep himself in check. Tanaka refused to be beaten or play any more into his hands, and a few elbows and a sliding D bought him those precious first points.
WINNER: Masato Tanaka with the Sliding D (14 minutes, 8 seconds)
(Masato Tanaka 2, Katsuhiko Nakajima 0)
Backstage Tanaka remarked that he had just beaten the champion of last years N-1, and this made him the strongest person in the league.
MATCH SIX
N-1 VICTORY A BLOCK
Takashi Sugiura vs Keiji Mutoh
As soon as the bell rang Takashi Sugiura attacked the "new recruit" with big boots, and a slam from the middle turnbuckle and then as he had said in his "instant defeat" interview, the Boston Crab. Keiji Mutoh might have been playing the confused old man (which is always a warning sign), but he wasn't going to go down that easily.
Keiji Mutoh (true to his era) began by wearing Takashi Sugiura down with headlocks. Sugiura was pulled into Mutoh's vintage style, as much as Mutoh was pulled into Sugiura's style, but as Noah does contain this vintage Baba element, neither looked too awkward. Mutoh of course was trained by Antonio Inoki, who had trained with Baba under Rikidozan. Mutoh took the aggression from Inoki, while Sugiura took the passiveness (or the art of selling) from Mitsuharu Misawa via Baba, who had taken that element. This was not a usual big fight Sugiura although it was a test of endurance, albeit in other ways - elbows, punches and kicks were met with headlocks and leg locks. Mutoh concentrating on his knees rather than his elbows. Very vintage style match for Sugiura to have, and one which he rarely has, even with his fellow veterans in Noah. If anything it showed how versatile he is.
If Mutoh could play the confused helpless old man to good effect, then Sugiura gave him a shock in as to how well he himself could fake being helpless. Mutoh dragged Sugiura to the middle of the ring after the Shining Wizard to go for another leg lock, but Sugiura reversed it and trapped him in the choke.
Mutoh's face went red and before the referee could stop the match, he managed to break out. Shining Wizards followed repeatedly, Mutoh had blood from his ear following an earlier elbow attack, and he struck with one final one, Sugiura blocked and went for the chokehold. As Mutoh was fading fast, Sugiura went for the Olympic Slam.
Mutoh kicked out.
Then the match time ran out, meaning that this first singles match of theirs came to a draw.
WINNER: Neither 30 minutes time out draw
(Takashi Sugiura 1, Keiji Mutoh 1)
As Keiji Mutoh limped backstage, and Takashi Sugiura left looking like he wanted to throw barriers, the fans gave them applause which was described as being like "thunder". Takashi Sugiura said later that a draw was disappointing, it was paramount to a loss.
With thanks to: Abeshin
Noah's next event: Noah Sanctuary, Wednesday 15th September (Club Citta, Kawasaki)
*Note, this will not be an N-1 related event.
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